The conventional wisdom goes that a scorpion has a sting in its tail – but the Abarth’s is most definitely up front.

A scorpion logo disclosing that this is the Abarth version of Fiat’s fantastic 500 sits on the bonnet covering the fizzy-little powerplant at the heart of the car’s appeal.

So big was the turbocharger which Abarth’s engineers opted to shoe-horn into the front end of the car that the body shop had to build some additional panels.

And the result is a truly brilliant city car which just got even better.

It means that the 1.4-litre engine is blown by the turbocharger all the way up to 135bhp, catapulting the Abarth from 0-to-62mph in a spirited 7.9 seconds.

And that this must be one of the most sought after – and affordable – hot hatches ever built.

I loved the way that the dinky little Fiat 500 stole Mini’s thunder as the must-have retro motor on the road when it was launched recently.

Abarth was reborn at the same time and serves as the Fiat Group’s performance division.

The guys in scorpion-liveried overalls were given a standard

Fiat 500 to play with and have managed to produce an amazing machine.

They uprated the shock absorbers, suspension and brakes and adorned the car with a series of sporty new bodywork panels.

The car I get to drive sits on optional 17in alloys (16in alloys are the standard fit) and has go-faster twin exhaust pipes poking out from its rear end.

The interior isn’t that dissimilar to the standard car but comes with an in-your-face additional dial revealing how hard the turbocharger is working.

It has strong and sturdy sporting seats which are coated with leather and a bit too narrow for my bum, which isn’t the biggest derriere I know of.

The ride is hard as hell too.

Build quality is better than you’d expect and the only flimsy bit of the car is the rear hatch, which closes with more of a splat than a clunk.

But there’s no disguising my affection for this motor and that scorpion badge is there to remind you pretty much everywhere you look.

There’s a Sport button on the dash with a logic which is seemingly back to front.

I think the idea is that you should pootle around in economy mode and only ever reach for the Sport button when you feel that a surge of adrenaline is due.

No sane individual would do that when there’s so much fun to be had under their right foot. It would make more sense to have the car live most of its life in Sport mode and have a button marked S-L-O-W because it pretty much kills the car dead when it’s driven like that.

It has less room for passengers than the Mini MINI but what looks like more room in the boot.

Its motorway manners aren’t as good, however – it could become tiring on long journeys.

On the move the Abarth is every bit as exciting as it is to look at.

It loves to sprint away from a standing start and corners with precision. The steering boasts a variable response, which means that it’s easy to drive in the city but offers more driver feedback when driven enthusiastically.

Best of all is the fact that it’s as economical as it is sporting – returning 43.5mpg on the combined cycle.